Let the Monstercon begin

Three-day event includes plenty of star power

Jul. 18, 2013

Written by

Neil Shurley

Contributor

If you felt a slight disturbance in The Force recently, it’s probably because Darth Vader is coming to town.

Dave Prowse, who portrayed the iconic villain in the original “Star Wars” trilogy, is the Celebrity Guest of Honor at Monstercon, a three-day celebration of comics, toys, movies and a lot more that will be held next weekend at Timmons Arena at Furman University. The venue was changed from the Hilton Inn on W. Orchard Park Drive.

“We’re really excited to bring something to Greenville that kids of all ages can enjoy,” says program director Dave Harlequin, “and we hope that all of the celebrity guests and outside businesses will help to boost the economy of the Upstate.”

Other guests include Chris Sarandon (“The Princess Bride,” the voice of Jack Skellington in Tim Burton’s “A Nightmare Before Christmas”), Paul Bradford (“Ghost Hunters International”), Alex Vincent (“Child’s Play”), and some actors from “The Walking Dead.” Plus, you’ll get to see the TARDIS from “Doctor Who,” the 1989 Tim Burton Batmobile, the Ecto-1 car from “Ghostbusters,” and the Green Goblin Truck from “Maximum Overdrive.”

For Harlequin, the reason for creating an event in Greenville was simple. “There are great conventions all over this country,” he says, “from as nearby as DragonCon in Atlanta and HeroesCon in Charlotte to as far away as ComicCon in San Diego, but for some reason or another, there just wasn’t anything like that here, so part of it was just being tired of always having to travel to have this kind of fun, especially when the Upstate is such a great location.”

Along with celebrity appearances, there’ll be vendors selling comics, toys, collectables and fan memorabilia, 24-hour gaming, costume contests, and nighttime entertainment, including concerts by local musicians Valentine Wolfe and punk rock legends The Independents. There’s also a weekend-long film festival featuring the world premiere of Night Whispers, a Carolina-Made, retro-style horror anthology film. Plus, you can participate in dozens of panel discussions on a myriad of topics, including Doctor Who Prop Building and Religion in Horror.

“Before anything else, we’re all just fans and geeks ourselves,” says Harlequin, “so it really made sense to make MonsterCon as ‘by the fans, for the fans’ as possible.”

MonsterCon is July 26-28 at Timmons Arena at Furman University. Three-day passes are $45, with single day passes also available: Fri-$15, Sat-$20, Sun-$10. Children under 10 get in free with one paying adult. Tickets are at several area comic book and gaming stores, and www.monstercon.org.